Admissions

• First-time students do not need to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to enroll at UW (though, they do need to demonstrate their immunity to various other infectious diseases- more on that below).
• Face coverings are optional and UW personnel are asked to respect individuals’ choices regarding mask wearing. You can read the policy on face coverings in UW spaces.
• As with any infectious disease or illness, if you have any symptoms please stay home and follow public health guidelines on when it is safe to return to work or class.
• A wealth of information about COVID-19 safety on campus appears on UW’s novel coronavirus facts and resources page.
• Everyone is recommended to stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines, when possible.

Action items:

• Set up your UW NetID and password if you haven’t already.
• Set your preferences for receiving your UW email.
• Enroll in two-factor authentication (2FA) with Duo and connect your NetID
  • Tip: It is probably the most convenient to install the Duo app on your smart phone or another device you have with you regularly (but it’s up to you).

All UW students have their UW NetID and password, which serves as their UW email address (example: yourNetID @ uw.edu) and login credentials for many UW resources. 2FA is required when signing in with your NetID on the web, including on mobile devices.

As an Allen School student, you will also have a CSE NetID account created for you. This will function as your CS email (example: yourCSENetID @ cs.washington.edu) and login credentials for the Allen School intranet, and you can opt in to 2FA with Duo on this account too, if you like. Your subscriptions to the PMP listserv and course mailing lists will use your CSE NetID.

Shortly before orientation, Kate will initiate invitations to incoming students to create their CSE NetIDs. Please create your CSE NetID immediately, ensuring that it matches your UW NetID. As with your UW email, you should check it regularly for important communications and announcements from Kate, your instructors, etc. (pro tip: set your UW email to forward to your CSE address, or vice versa).

PMP new student orientation is when you get to meet your fellow new students (and Kate, your friendly academic advisor) while also gaining useful information to guide you through the PMP and your time at UW. Orientation is required, so please let Kate know asap if it poses a scheduling conflict.

Everyone who attends will receive a sweet purple Allen School t-shirt and a selection of branded swag to take with them!

Orientation consists of high-contrast slides and commentary delivered by presenters in English, with a small amount of moving around to form table groups for small-group discussions. Live closed captioning through Google Slides is available, and our venue is ADA-compliant. Some snacks and light bites will be provided. Please feel free to describe any accessibility needs or dietary restrictions in the survey linked below, or to Kate directly- we are very happy to support your ability to access and participate!

Action items:

• Mark your calendar! Orientation is on Thursday, March 20 from 6:30-8:30pm, in-person in the Allen Center for CSE, room 691 (click for map)
• Complete this short pre-orientation survey to report your shirt size and any accessibility needs and/or dietary restrictions. It might also be helpful to review the student handbook’s section on parking and commuting to campus in advance, too.

Deadline: Complete the survey before Tuesday, March 18.

We look forward to meeting you at orientation!

Action item: Gather your documents and submit proof of your immunity to measles, mumps, and meningitis meningococcal ACWY, whether by submitting vaccination records or results of a blood titer test. The immunity verification requirement website has extensive information about the requirement, the kind of documentation you need to provide, and how to submit your documents. This site will be your best source of information regarding this requirement.

Deadline:
Measles/mumps immunity documents should be submitted by April 24 to avoid a next quarter registration hold! Next-quarter registration holds will be placed on May 8 for students whose requirement is not satisfied.

Action item: Submit official transcripts/degree statement to the UW Graduate School (this step is not required for UW alumni, including Bothell/Tacoma students)

• Your application status page indicates the school/degree whose transcript should be sent. Typically, this will be your bachelor’s degree-granting institution; if you have attended multiple schools or earned multiple degrees, you won’t need to send documents for all of them.
• Mailing an official copy of your final degree transcript or degree certificate or sending an official electronic copy through Parchment are the easiest ways to complete this step.
• Read more about official transcript requirements and delivery methods.
• Your application status page will update when your documents have been received, and again when your degree has been verified.

Deadline: Ensure your documents are sent well in advance of the first day of class so there is time for them to arrive and be processed (though, this is not a hard deadline; mainly you just want to do this asap!). A hold may be placed on your next quarter registration if this step is not completed early during your first quarter.

Action item: Start making progress on the online Husky Prevention & Response student course.

Husky Prevention & Response is a foundational prevention and response course about sex- and gender-based violence and harassment. UW students have an important role to play in ensuring a respectful environment for their peers and the course offers strategies for creating and supporting positive UW climates and stopping sex- and gender-based violence and harassment before they happen. More information about the course and some frequently-asked questions are available from the Office of the Title IX Coordinator.

The course takes 60-90 minutes to complete and can be completed all at once or in multiple sessions (it saves your progress and you can return to it later).

Note: The course may bring up strong emotions for individuals who have experienced violence or harassment or recently supported someone impacted by violence or harassment. If you would like to learn about alternative course completion options, contact tixcourse@uw.edu. It is not necessary to share personal details or a justification when you send an email regarding the alternative course option.

Deadline: Complete the course before the first day of the quarter. Not doing so may result in a hold being placed on next quarter’s registration.

Action item: Bookmark and review the PMP student handbook.

The PMP student handbook functions as the official policy document for PMP academics and reiterates several Graduate School and UW policies that also apply to PMP students. It is intended to be your reference guide to a lot of important details regarding planning your degree, campus parking and bike rooms, well-being and safety, degree requirements, and more.

You’re not expected to memorize all the information in the handbook, but should review it in its entirety to know what’s included and how to refer back to it later.

Deadline: please review the handbook prior to new student orientation.

Action item: Bookmark the following links.

Below are some UW and Allen School links that you will use a lot. It’s worth understanding what each resource is and when you will use it:

• The PMP student handbook: a 24/7 resource for PMP degree planning and policies, plus more information applicable to Allen School and UW grad students.
• The MyUW portal: Used for course registration, paying your fees, and updating your UW records, among many other functions. Also shows your course schedule after you’ve registered.
• MyPlan: Used for running a degree audit in DARS; also useful for browsing courses.
• Canvas: Course websites will occasionally be hosted here.
• The quarterly PCE time schedule: Shows class schedule details, current enrollment, and registration codes for PMP courses and CSE colloquia
  • Tip: crtl+f ‘CSE P’ to quickly find PMP courses and crtl+f ‘CSE’ to quickly find CSE colloquia
• The Current PMP Courses page: Shows what PMP courses are available in the upcoming quarter! It is updated as course schedules are announced to Kate.
• The Courses and Colloquia page: Provides an overview of how to obtain colloquia credit and links to the colloquium search and reporting tools.
• The PMP colloquium reporting tool. Access is by CSE NetID, which you will create later (it’s okay that you can’t access this page now). Be on the lookout for a separate email inviting you to create your CSE NetID.
• The UW academic calendar: Shows quarterly key dates and deadlines such as dates of instruction, schedules for fees and charges, schedule change deadlines, and more.

Action item: Obtain your Husky Card (your student ID).

The UW student ID card is more commonly known as the Husky Card. It functions to identify you as a UW student and is what you use for after-hours building access to CSE facilities, borrowing library materials, your bus pass, and for buying food on campus tax-free (you have to load money onto the card first, however) – and a lot more. Obtaining the physical card is an important step for new students.

Cards are issued by the Husky Card Office and can be obtained in-person or by mail. Read more about Husky Card Office hours and how to obtain your card.

Deadline: None, though we recommend obtaining your card before your first day of class if possible. Lines can be long at the start of the quarter and you may find is most convenient to request your card via mail.

Optional action item: Visit Identity.UW to set preferences for how your name appears in most UW records. This can be a good option for students who prefer to be addressed by a nickname or name other than their legal name.

Optional action item: Learn about FERPA and student privacy and what information UW is authorized to release about your enrollment here. You have the right to opt out of the release of your information and not appear in the UW Faculty/Staff/Student directory.

Deadline: n/a

UW has launched a centralized accessibility resource website that provides information to the community about access to UW programs, services, and activities. Visit Accessibility at the UW to learn more about accessible technology, wayfinding, events, and inclusion.

Disability Resources for Students partners jointly with students and faculty in the process to establish accommodations, services, and access to academic programs. Students with temporary or permanent physical, health, learning, sensory, or psychological disabilities are encouraged to connect with DRS to learn about their services and prepare for the process of requesting accommodations and/or auxiliary aids.

PMP students pay for their courses on a per-credit basis. Everyone pays the same rate, regardless of Washington residency. For the 2024-2025 academic year, the per-credit rate is $1098. PMP students should also expect to pay around $280 per quarter for textbooks and additional fees (U-Pass, Services & Activities, etc.).

Payment of all fees is due on the third Friday of the quarter. Payment is most easily made online through the MyUW portal. Students will see two accounts: their UW tuition account (where the U-Pass is charged) and their Professional & Continuing Education (PCE) account, where their course credits and majority of quarterly fees are charged. Both accounts must be paid by the third Friday of the quarter.

If you are paying through a third party (GI Bill benefits, employer, etc.) contact PCE Registration Services well in advance to get your details on file.

Course websites

Your course website will generally be hosted in one or two places: on the Allen School’s website (most common) or on Canvas (less common). Websites typically are not published until the week (or even days) leading up to the quarter. Don’t panic if it’s a few days out and you don’t see anything yet. Many students are still changing their schedules up until the start of the quarter and instructors tend to wait until shortly before the first day to publish their websites or start communicating with class rosters.

> To locate your course page on the Allen School website: Navigate to either the Current Courses page or the PMP course catalog and click the title of your course. On the left, you will see links for the current quarter’s website as well as an archive of past courses’ sites.

> To locate your course on Canvas: Navigate to Canvas. If the instructor is using Canvas and has published the page, you will see it on your dashboard.

Textbooks

Once you have registered for the quarter, check to see whether a book or course text has been assigned for your course. Your schedule on the MyUW homepage will show a “display textbooks” link for your course, or you can find your course on the PMP time schedule, click its SLN code, and click the “display textbook” link. If a book has been assigned, then you may purchase it at the University Bookstore or perhaps locate it for rent or sale through another retailer.

While course web pages typically are not posted until a day or so prior to the course start, they are important to check since some PMP instructors assign readings prior to the first class meeting.

Note: Colloquia (CSE 519 and 520) do not have course websites nor textbooks assigned. More information about colloquia and earning credit is below.

A numerical grade of 2.7 or higher must be earned in a course for it to count toward the degree.

Colloquium credits (CSE 519 or 520) are graded credit/no credit (CR/NC) and a grade of CR must be earned for the credit to count

Satisfactory / non-satisfactory (S/NS) grades do not count toward degree requirements. During any quarter or circumstances, always contact Kate, the PMP academic advisor, before changing your grading option to S/NS.

A minimum quarterly and cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher must be maintained for satisfactory academic progress and to avoid corrective action in the form of academic status changes within the PMP or within the Graduate School.

University of Washington students are expected to practice high standards of academic and professional honesty and integrity. Students are encouraged to understand various forms of misconduct and to actively encourage academic honesty and integrity in themselves and others.

Defining academic misconduct

Academic misconduct can occur within the context of a class or during project or research work – whether conducted individually or as part of a team. Academic integrity is an important part of your studies at UW and it is critical that you are aware of the standards and expectations set by UW and the State of Washington.

As defined in UW’s Student Governance Policy, academic misconduct includes:

• Cheating
• Falsification
• Plagiarism
• Unauthorized collaboration
• Engaging in prohibited behavior
• Submitting the same work for separate courses without the permission of the instructor(s)
• Taking deliberate action to destroy or damage another person’s academic work
• Recording and/or disseminating instructional content without the permission of the instructor (unless approved as a disability accommodation)

The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 478-121-107 expands on these terms. The most robust definitions of each term are found in the Student Governance Policy, Chapter 209, Section 7.C.

The conduct process and possible sanctions

Faculty or instructors who suspect a student of academic misconduct file a report with the College or School offering the course, where the case is assigned to a designated Conduct Officer. This is the first step of UW’s Student Conduct Process, which is described in greater detail here. Students who are found to have committed academic misconduct may expect to fail the exam/assignment where the misconduct occurred, in addition to other sanctions that may be imposed as a result of the conduct process.

Avoiding committing misconduct

One of the most effective ways to avoid committing academic misconduct is to understand how it is defined at UW and to understand that the misconduct policy exists to preserve academic honesty and integrity at UW and among its students.

Additional, practical strategies for avoiding misconduct include:

• Planning ahead – give yourself enough time to plan, research, study, and prepare to submit your own work.
• The course syllabus is the policy document for that class. Review it carefully to see if the instructor has outlined a collaboration policy and ask if you are unsure, especially for take-home or open-book assignments or exams!
• Decline to participate in behavior that you know constitutes academic misconduct, if asked by a friend or classmate.

The PMP awards an MS in Computer Science and is comprised of 40 credits total. Students complete their requirements through a combination of PMP courses (4 credits each, numbered CSE P 5XX) and colloquia (1 credit each, numbered CSE 519 or CSE 520).

All students must complete a minimum of 8 PMP courses (32 credits total). The remaining 8 credits may be completed with colloquium credits, additional coursework, or a combination of colloquium/course credits. A maximum of 8 colloquium credits may count.

PMP courses do not have prerequisites and students may select any of the available options in a given quarter (assuming there is space available). There furthermore are no particular requirements for course selection or distribution of topics (the program is intended to provide a broad-spectrum CS education).

Recommended rate of progress

The recommended rate of progress is one PMP course + 1 colloquium credit per quarter (5 credits total). At this rate, a PMP student will complete 15 credits per year academic year (there are no course offerings in summer) and complete the program in about two and a half years

That said, students may select different quarterly loads if they wish, especially if they anticipate busy periods in their work or personal lives (for example, taking only a course, or only 1 or 2 colloquia credits in a given quarter).

Important: Students must complete their degree within six years of program start, including all time spent on leave.

Students must maintain their active student status by registering and making progress toward their degree requirements during the academic year (autumn, winter, and spring quarters). Summer is an automatic vacation quarter and students do not need to register or go on-leave to maintain their status.

If you need to take a quarter off entirely during the academic year (taking no credits at all), you must complete the process to officially go on leave for the quarter. Failing to register or go on-leave will result in going inactive and appearing to have dropped from the PMP and UW.

PMP courses are 4 credits and always numbered CSE P 5XX.

Courses for the upcoming academic year are posted on the Current PMP Courses page, where you can also view their meeting schedules and find links to past syllabi and video descriptions. Courses generally repeat every 2-3 years and are taught by the Allen School’s world-class faculty. The winter Software Entrepreneurship course is offered annually.

Each PMP course generally corresponds to ~20 hours of work per week, inclusive of in-class time. 1 class at a time is the most common, but students have been successful taking 2 courses at a time in the past.

The CSE departmental colloquia are one credit and always numbered CSE 519 and CSE 520. There is no minimum number of colloquia credits you must earn and you may register for one or two colloquia credits per quarter (if registering for one, select either CSE 519 or 520. If registering for two, register for both). A maximum of 8 colloquium credits may count toward the degree. Colloquia consist of lectures or seminars by faculty, invited guests, or industry leaders and may be attended live on-campus, viewed via livestream, or viewed from the archives. See the courses and colloquia page for details

To earn colloquia credit
For each credit of colloquia you have registered for, you must view at least 8 sessions and report on at least 4. When registered for two credits, students must view at least 16 sessions and report on at least 8. You may view/report on colloquia from the current quarter, or browse the colloquia archives and view and report on past sessions (or a mix; it’s up to you).

Reports should be ~one paragraph in length and can be a review, summary, reaction, or critique of the session and its contents. Students may also describe what they learned or how the information they gained is relevant in their workplace or to their professional practice. There are no particular requirements for contents or formatting. The goal with the reports are twofold: to indicate that you watched the session, and to demonstrate that you have thought critically about its contents.

Reports are submitted via the Colloquium reporting tool and are due by midnight on the Sunday after finals week (Sunday of the last week of classes).

Confirm your address and opt in or out of insurance/optional charges

Each quarter, students must confirm their addresses in UW’s records and opt in or out of extra quarterly charges (things like student health insurance). These steps must be completed before you can register for next quarter.

To update your information, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to MyUW
2. In the Registration or Quick Links section, click “Register using SLN codes”
3. Select Insurance/Optional Charges at the top of the page
4. Confirm your address and opt in or out of student insurance and other charges for the upcoming quarter.

Find your SLN codes

After deciding what course and/or colloquia to take (remember, the Current Courses page is helpful for this!), find their entries on the quarterly PCE time schedule.

Tip: crtl+f ‘CSE P’ to quickly jump to PMP courses and crtl+f ‘CSE’ to quickly jump to CSE colloquia

A unique SLN code corresponds to each course and colloquium section and it what you use to register for a specific section. When viewing PMP courses or CSE colloquia on the time schedule, the SLN code is the 5-digit number in the left-hand column.

1. Log into MyUW and click ‘Register using SLN codes’ in the Registration or Quick Links sections
2. Verify that the registration quarter indicated at the top of the page matches the upcoming quarter for which you are registering
3. After you have confirmed your address and opted in/out of optional charges, a grid appears. For the course/colloquia for which you wish to register, enter its 5-digit SLN code. The boxes in the other columns can be left blank.
4. Click Update Schedule.
5. Look for the green check mark indicating your registration went through successfully. Your schedule will appear on your MyUW homepage.

A helpful step-by-step guide to the registration process, including visuals, is available here: Guide to registering

Here are some common registration roadblocks and recommended solutions:

• You receive an error message stating, “This section is closed, and no alternate sections are open.”
  This means that you have attempted to register for a section that is full. Best solution is to register for a different course for now and wait for a seat to open up in your first choice.

  Tip for closed courses: Notify.UW is an opt-in service that sends you an email or text notification when a seat becomes available in a course that is already full. To enroll in notifications, click the course’s SLN code in MyPlan or the time schedule and click the link, ‘Subscribe to seat availability notifications’.

• You receive an error message stating, “Restricted section. You do not meet the course entry requirements for this section.” This means that you are trying to register for a section that is restricted in some way; most commonly, to students in a particular department or degree program. Many departments restrict their courses to students in their own degree programs in order to ensure that only students in those programs have access to their courses (fun fact: your CSEP courses and colloquia are restricted to PMP students only!)
• That said, a small number of students in the Allen School’s 5th-year MS program occasionally enroll in PMP courses. They have their own sections that are cross-listed with ours. If you are trying to register for a CSEP course and receive this error message, it’s most likely because you have entered the SLN code for the 5th-year MS section rather than the PMP section.
• The solution here is to obtain the SLN code for the PMP section. This can be done from the current quarter’s time schedule (as always, linked on the Current Courses page) or in MyPlan from the Professional & Continuing Education Tab, not the UW Seattle tab.

And, of course, you can always email Kate for registration support! Kate is an expert at registration troubleshooting and can always point you in the right direction.

Late registration

Registering for the first time between Period 3 (first day of class) and the 13th calendar day of the quarter results in a $25 late registration fee. To avoid this fee, make your first registration transaction for the quarter before Period 3/first day of class. Registering for the first time on the 14th calendar day of the quarter or later results in a $75 late registration fee.

Schedule changes

Between registration opening and the 7th calendar day of the quarter, you can make as many schedule changes as necessary without incurring any registration change fees. Of course, the cost of any credits you add during this time will be counted into your total amount due for the quarter.

Starting the 8th calendar day of the quarter, a $20 registration change fee applies for all schedule changes, in addition to the cost of any credits added to your schedule. The 8th calendar day is also when forfeiture charges for dropped credits begin.

Tuition/fee forfeiture charges (important!)

Starting the 8th calendar day of the quarter, schedule changes that result in a net loss of credits are charged a 50% forfeiture fee. This means that, after the first week, you are charged 50% of the cost of any credits you drop without replacing with an equivalent or greater number of credits.

The best way to avoid costly fees is to have your schedule finalized by the end of the first week of class!

If you were previously enrolled in the PMP as a graduate non-matriculated (GNM) student or have graduate-level credits from another institution and are curious about transfer credit, please contact Kate. Kate can help evaluate the credits and ensure they are counting toward your PMP requirements on your degree audit (if applicable).

The bigger picture

Your first quarter in the PMP can be filled with a lot of adjustment: adjusting to graduate-level coursework, the pacing of 10-week quarters, finding a harmonious work-life-school balance, etc. The UW and Allen School’s robust infrastructure of people, computing resources, and systems can be challenging to navigate too. Before the start of your first quarter, we recommend getting comfortable accessing your UW and CSE email accounts (or, setting up forwarding on one or the other such that messages all go the same inbox), locating your course’s website, and ensuring you know when and how to pay your fees.

Course terms are 10 weeks and that time goes fast. Spend the first week looking ahead in your syllabus and marking due dates and trying to plan for time management and how to be successful in your class. Note any weeks that will be particularly heavy with assignments or an exam, and prepare accordingly. Use your TAs, instructors, and fellow students as resources and remember that it’s okay to ask for help if you need it. We all want you to be successful, and are confident that you can be!

Some practical tips from your fellow students:

We are very fortunate in the Allen School to have a beautiful art collection! Works in Allen and Gates include paintings, prints, sculpture, and physical installations and were curated by emeritus Professor Emeritus and Chair Hank Levy. The collection carries the theme, All in the Family because all of the artists have a close relationship to the University of Washington. Students may read more about art in the Allen School (coming soon!) and are welcome to visit pieces in Allen and Gates buildings!

Elsewhere on campus, the Jacob Lawrence Gallery in the Art Building has several exhibitions throughout the year, most with UW students’ works. UW is also home to the Henry Art Gallery which showcases contemporary art and ideas and is always free with your Husky Card. You furthermore can visit a variety of publicly-accessible works throughout the UW campus..